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Kizkalesi got its recent name about 85 years ago. The area, having been abandoned for a while, got new inhabitants and they named the village after the legend belonging to the sea castle: Kizkalesi (Maiden's Castle)

....Once upon a time there was a king, who had a beautiful daughter. But faith not being with her a prophecy predicted she would die of a snakebite. To for come this, the king let a castle be build in the sea. For sure, his daughter would be safe there! But as we always learn in legends and fairy tales, the prophecy will be inevitable. Our dear princess got fresh fruit brought to her everyday. Somehow a snake ended up in one of the baskets and the prophecy was fulfilled. Ché Sera, Sera, what ever will be will be! And so goes the legend of Maiden's Castle. It left the king without a daughter but it left us a nice legend and the remains of Kizkalesi.

Corycos, the historical name of Kizkalesi, is one of the main historical cities of the area, called Cilicia. Cilicia became an official province of the Roman Empire in 72 AD and gained more importance and prosperity. You can trace the prosperity of the area back. Just wander around and you find remains of Roman roads, parts of city walls, a huge necropolis (graveyard) and parts of an aqueduct, bringing water to Corycos from the Lamos river 17 km away. If you are lucky you might even find a coin, for Corycos minted its own coins. The land castle has been build in 5 stages. Started by Romans in the 2nd or 3rd century, but the main construction has been done under Byzantine rule (approximate 1100 AD). Later on smaller additions and reparations have been done. Inside the land castle you will find the remains of three chapels. Kizkalesi though has been built at the beginning of the crusaders (approximate 1100 AD) as part of a fortification plan. Inside you'll find a small chapel and a cistern. Both castles might have been connected by a wall, serving as a quay too.